We were forced to make a blog for a class, so we chose to make one about the thing we love most in this world...chocolate!

04/13/2010

White chocolate brownies...whities? Clearly this sounds like an oxymoron, but if you don't think these whities are awesome, you're the moron! This is by far one of the best tasting things we've ever made. If you love white chocolate macadamia cookies and brownies, imagine both of them in your mouth at the same time...i know...AMAZING!!! Now this might sound biased coming from us, but we'll have you all know we invited over some witnesses to testify. Sadly, all the whities vanished once our friends had a taste, but that just means we'll have to make them again...and again...and again...you get the point! So here is how to make them...I know you want this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

5 oz white chocolate

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs (huevos)

1 cup chopped unsalted macadamia nuts

We started by preheating the oven...obviously...to 350 degrees Farenheit. Then we sifted together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a huge bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and stir constantly...white chocolate burns very easily (mostly because it's not really chocolate at all). Remove that from the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

Once the chocolate has cooled, stir in the sugar, vanilla, and eggs (one at a time)...Be gentle! Mix the dry ingredients into the chocolate until lightly blended, DON'T overmix or the whities will take forever to bake (and who wants that?) Throw the nuts into the mixture and fold them in gently! Pour the batter into a baking pan...preferably 8 in x8 in and shove it in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

While the whities were in the oven, a variety of strange things happened around the house. Michelle's 4 month old puppy, Toby, had diarrhea all over the family room in Jenny's house. We cleaned it up and the smell of puppy poo was finally gone. All of a sudden, Jenny's mom has a seat on her fancy fabric couch only to find that Toby had peed on it and it was now on her pj's. good times...good times. Toby was then locked away in the garage as we invited friends over to taste our whities and was later released on bail.

Apparently, our friends aren't fed at home because they sped over and made it to the house just as the whities were coming out of the oven. They would've eaten faster only they had to breathe. Overall, we'd say this recipe was a success and we doubt anyone would have a complaint about them.

**WARNING**

If you decide to share this with friends (especially guys) chances are, you won't get any. My advice, make extra and store some in a special place for later. Also, don't let your friends snoop around your house because they may suspect something is up and find your stash!

The first time we made this recipe it was an epic failure. Jenny had made it before and received rave reviews, but I hadn't been there to try it, so she decided to make it again. To make a long story short, it came out mushy. By now, you know that Jenny doesn't like talking about recipes she hasn't made well (and even if it tasted like crap, she wouldn't admit it!) She tried to delete this sentence as I was writing, but I believe our faithful followers deserve to know the truth.

This is Jenny speaking now... In my defense it was half Michelle's fault because when I made it by myself it didn't turn into mush... just saying... NOT MY FAULT!!!

I told you she'd try to defend herself...anyway we made it together this time and it came out AWESOME so here's what we did...

Ingredients:

5 eggs separated

1 cup sugar

2 cups mascarpone cheese

1/4 tsp salt

lots of ladyfingers (more than 30)

1 cup strong black coffee (cold)

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

7 oz semisweet dark chocolate (grated)

As usual...we suffer the misfortune of being broke college students, so we were lacking in the kitchen supplies department. We had an egg separator, but we accidentally crushed it with the blender...oh well, shit happens! So we had to do it the old school way...by hand. Basically, you crack the egg and transfer the egg between your fingers until all the white is in a bowl and only the yolk is left in your hands. Sounds delicious I know, but I promise the finished product tastes way better so hold your horses, buddy!

We put all the egg yolks in a bowl and added the sugar. With a fork, we mixed them together -- this is where we messed up last time. We overbeat the egg yolks, so DON'T DO THAT! It still has to be slightly firm yet smooth by the time you add it the rest of the ingredients. Stir in the cheese and leave that bowl alone for a while.

Next, we mixed the egg whites with the salt and beat until it forms stiff peaks. Fold this mixture into the other bowl with the yolks, sugar, and cheese. Soak the ladyfingers in the coffee and place them in the baking dish to form a layer. Then scoop out half of the mixture and spread it over the ladyfingers. Follow with a layer of chocolate shavings...repeat this process and top with a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

We're sorry, but you can't eat it just yet. Make room in your refrigerator and shove it in there for at least 4 hours so it can firm up and get cold. If you think you can eat it at this point...you're right! So do it, because it will be delicious! Nevermind the weight you'll gain from your inability to eat just one serving...it'll be well worth the extra time you'll have to spend in the gym.

**WARNING**

Do not use unpasteurized eggs because we're not cooking this at all...Salmonella is definitely not a dinosaur...it is a horrible disease that you do not want (not even Pepto can save you from the runs!) Other than that, enjoy the dessert and don't eat too much of it...everything in moderation ;)

03/03/2010

When we told our friends we'd be making shrimp with chocolate, a few of them gagged. We were intrigued by the idea and so we felt we had to make it. Not gonna lie, we were weirded out by the idea too, but as always, the weird things interest us more than normal stuff does.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 medium chopped onions

1 bay leaf

1 tsp thyme

2 lb firm tomatoes

1 qt water

12 jumbo shrimp

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup chopped almonds

4 oz semisweet chocolate

Heat 2 tbs of the oil in a large saucepan. Saute the onions, bay leaf and thyme until they start to brown. BE CAREFUL! We burned ourselves tossing in the onions.

When it came time to add the tomatoes, we realized our pan was not nearly as big as we needed it to be. So we switched from saucepan to a big stock pot.

After we solved that problem, we added the tomatoes, covered the pot, and let it simmer for 15 minutes. We then removed the cover, added the water, covered it again, and let simmer until it reduced by half in volume (about a year or so...).

When it finally reduces (and your first few wrinkles appear), strain the contents and set aside.

Now lightly season the thawed shimp with salt and pepper. Heat up some more oil and fry the shrip until tender. Watch out for the hot oil jumping on your hands, I promise it REALLY hurts. Remove the shrimp from the pan and arrange on a plate. Then pour the strained sauce on top.

Now here's the part that's a bit bizarre... Mix garlic, almonds and chocolate in a bowl then pour in a few tablespoons of remaining oil from saucepan and drizzle over shrimp.

Ok, so when we first tried it we were kinda scared. We actually had to try it a couple times to really understand what was going on. It wasn't that bad at all!

Michelle: In my opinion, the onions and the tomatoes were cut too large. Our bad i suppose...we only were following instructions. I would've added less water because i feel it sucked the flavor out of the veggies and made them a little bland...I was expecting a thick sauce and instead we ended up with a bland bed of vegetables under our shrimp on the plate. I also wouldn't have added the garlic or olive oil to the chocolate sauce...I think the dish would've tasted better if we had let the shrimp be shrimp (savory and salty) and the chocolate be chocolate (sweet and delicious). Basically, I like the idea of the dish. I love combining sweet with savory I just think there was a better way to have done it..So, if I were to repeat this dish, I'd use half the water, use a hand blender to make the sauce thicker, and leave the garlic in with the veggies instead of raw and inside the chocolate sauce...cookbooks aren't always right...but I try to be.

**WARNING**

If you don't have a high tolerance for bizarre mixes such as this, you probably shouldn't try it.

But if you are a bit more gutsy than those pansies that are scared to try new things... please don't burn yourself!

It's been a while since our last blog post...We realize this may be a problem if we're trying to get people to subscribe but we've been busy working at the Wine & Food Festival on South Beach and projects for other classes so don't be mad at us we're still awesome!

We made this recipe about 3 weeks ago and never posted the blog...once again, we're sorry. The recipe is great for cold nights (which we've been having a lot of here in Miami, who would've thought?) Anyway, it is an Irish rendition of hot chocolate...yeah...it's exactly what you think...it has Irish whiskey in it!

Ingredients:

2 cups of milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 lb bittersweet chocolate

1 tbs powdered sugar

1/4 cup Irish whiskey

Grated chocolate for decoration

To make the whipped cream, combine half the heavy cream with the powdered sugar and beat on high speed until it creates stiff peaks. Try to keep it inside the bowl...as stupid as it sounds, we got it all over our clothing when we made it.

Mix the rest of the cream with the milk in a pot on the stove over medium heat. Once it's hot, throw the chocolate in there and stir away! Chocolate, chocolate, make it melt! (Old people won't get the reference...it's okay, I'm sure you don't want to know)

At this point, you can add that whiskey and stir. Pour into thick glass cups for presentation and throw some whipped cream on top. If you're feeling really creative, you can even sprinkle chocolate curls on it. Drink up and enjoy.

**WARNING**

Adding too much whiskey will cause a kick in the face. If you're planning to overdo it with the liquor use cheap chocolate. The whiskey will overpower the awesomeness and make you feel like you wasted your money...you may be too drunk to care at this point...we're just sayin'

DO NOT DRIVE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THIS DRINK... OR ANY ALCOHOL!!! Drink in moderation ;)

01/31/2010

When we saw the picture for this recipe in The Essence of Chocolate, we knew we had to make it. I, Michelle, don't even like cheesecake and it looked intriguing. The recipe doesn't call for that many ingredients, just quality. It kinda takes a long time to make, but it was totally worth it!

Crust:

2 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (we used Oreos)

8 tbs melted unsalted butter

Filling:

3 8-oz packages cream cheese

1 cup granulated sugar

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

2 cups sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

10 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate

So... we bought a package of Oreos and de-creamed every single one. We realize that to many this is considered sacrilegious (we're not sorry for throwing out a mixture of lard and sugar). Anyways, since we don't have a food processor, we threw all the wafers in a huge ziplock bag and went at it with a rolling pin.

We mixed the crumbs with the melted butter and smooshed it to the bottom of the 9-inch springform pan. The recipe calls for an 8-inch pan but yeah... we didn't have that either. We made it work, only the crumbs didn't go up the side of the pan. We placed it in the fridge for 20 minutes while making the filling.

Next, we threw the cream cheese, sugar, and salt into the stand mixer until it was fluffy & smooth. We were supposed to add the eggs next. Instead we threw in the sour cream, vanilla, and then the eggs. Seriously, it made no difference.

We then folded in the chocolate chunks (Scharffen Berger), poured the mixture into the pan, then placed it in the preheated oven at 375 degrees for 55 minutes. After the timer went off, we turned off the oven, and left the cheesecake inside with the door open for half an hour. It has to cool on a rack for another half an hour, then you shove it in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

We were too anxious to wait until tomorrow so 4 hours later, we cut ourselves a slice. We think we did a pretty awesome job because for Michelle to actually like cheesecake, it had to be good. Michelle didn't finish her slice so I, Jenny, ate the rest of hers. Food will never go to waste in my presence (I know what you're thinking...I go to the gym to avoid the consequences).

Unfortunately, we took pictures of all this but we had some technical difficulties. As we said before, this is our first attempt at writing a blog. We will post pictures when we figure out how to work this website!

~If you are on a diet or impatient, then this recipe (and probably entire blog) is not for you.

**WARNING** Do not make this if you don't plan to share it. You can actually take this to a party unlike the chili. Take our advice; stop reading this blog (just for today), make this recipe, and take it to a party. Everybody loves someone that can cook. You might just get a couple numbers ;-)

Most people don't think of chili when they hear the word chocolate. We were kinda weirded out by it too, so we decided we had to make it! This recipe can be found on page 273 of The Essence of Chocolate. We thought that by first making an entrée we could inspire curiosity in our blog. If you don't think you're the kind of person that mixes beans with chocolate, we're here to change your mind. Since this is our first blog with substance, we thought we should give our readers a breakdown of how we plan on writing our blog.

Each week, we'll choose a few recipes from the books we mentioned in our first post. After we've cooked all day long, we'll include a recipe and a description of the steps, obstacles, possible disappointments we faced along the way.

Ingredients:

1 cup diced carrots

1 tbs canola oil

3 tsp minced garlic

2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbs chili powder

1 tsp dried crushed basil

1 tsp dried crushed oregano

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup water

1 tbs dijon mustard

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 15-oz can red kidney beans

1 15-oz can Great Northern beans

1 15-oz can garbanzo beans

1 cup corn kernels

1 cup diced zucchini

pinch of salt

First, we brought half a pot of water to a boil and threw the carrots in there for 2 minutes. We then blanched, drained, and dried them with paper towel and set them aside.

Next, we poured the canola oil into a big pot without realizing we forgot to turn down the heat, and almost burned the garlic.

In a rush to save it, we took the pot off the heat and threw in all the dry ingredients while we turned down the heat.

As we waited for the stove top to cool down a bit, we opened all the canned ingredients. This is when we realized we never bought the garbanzo beans! Luckily, Cuban grandmothers keep garbanzos stocked up in their pantries, and Jenny's grandma conveniently lives across the street. Problem: all she had was dried garbanzo beans so we had to wait what felt like FOREVER for her to boil them and bring them over.

After stirring for a while, we added the diced tomatoes, the water, the mustard, and the tomato paste followed by the three types of beans (hence, three-bean chili). That came to a boil and then we let it simmer for 10 minutes.

The next and final step was to add the vegetables and simmer for another 10 minutes.

We both shared a bowl to taste and it was pretty good! The chocolate made it taste a tad smoky and the vegetables gave it a nice texture, making it a very entertaining experience in our mouths. For people that like their chili with meat you may not like this so much but feel free to throw some in there when you cook it for yourself.

**WARNING** This dish will definitely cause flatulence... DO NOT give to grandparents, eat before/during a date, or serve at a party... you will be sorry!

You're probably wondering why we're writing a blog. You're not alone...we are too. It all started about 4 weeks ago at the beginning of the semester. We decided to enroll in an entrepreneurship class as an elective for our hospitality major. While reading through the syllabus, we realized that there was one major project that counts for 35% of our grade, and this is it. The objective is to get as many people as possible to subscribe to our blog. We realize this won't be easy, so we've chosen a topic we know most people will enjoy. Our love for chocolate is our inspiration for this blog. We will be making recipes from 2 different chocolate books. The first book is The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. The second book is The Golden Book of Chocolate by Bardi and Pietersen. They include everything from cookies and cakes to entrées and drinks.